Updated 11:34 pm, Thursday, February 28, 2013

But Speaker of the House J. Brendan Sharkey says he's "skeptical" about adding a burden to Connecticut businesses, putting the future of the bill in doubt.

It would hike the current minimum hourly pay to $9 on next January 1 and the additional 75 cents would take effect a year later. Subsequent hikes in the wage would be linked to the consumer price index.

"It would help me a whole lot," said Gwynn, 38, a Stop & Shop employee. "It would help me catch up on my bills."

Rucker, a 21-year-old student commended the Labor Committee's proposal and believes the Legislature should approve it.

"They have no problem raising taxes, they should increase the minimum wage," he said.

Bruce, 37, and Arrington, 33, were surprised pleasantly by the news.

"It will motivate people to look for work," Bruce said. "But I also think employers will want more for their buck and will add duties to the job requirements."

Rushing to a class at Housatonic Community College, June Victoria, 54, of New Haven, who is currently unemployed, welcomed the increase. However, she said it's difficult to survive on $9.75 an hour.

"It should be more," she said.

The committee approved the legislation along party lines, 7-4, after a brief afternoon debate, as minority Republicans said the state's economy cannot handle the added burden on business owners

Rep. Richard Smith, R-New Fairfield, ranking member of the committee, said in a "normal" economic climate, he'd favor raising the wage.

"The problem with doing it now is we're in such a poor economic climate that it just seems to exacerbate the already failing system that we have here in Connecticut," Smith said. "When we say we're open for business on the right-hand side of the road it seems like we're closing for business on the left-hand side of the road because we're not helping each other. We're just making it more difficult for employers."

And Rep. Sean Williams, R-Watertown, also believes the 18-percent salary hike over two years "absolutely, unquestionably reduces the ability of small businesses to increase employment for the very people we're trying to help here."

Victoria believes the two Republicans may have something there.

"Of course people need more money," Smith said pointing out how expensive it is to live in Fairfield County. "But you have to look at the other side -- are employers going to cut jobs because they have to pay more?"

"Its possible places will fire people because they have to pay more money," added Victoria.

Even Ludd, a 26-year-old security guard, doubts companies are going to rush out and hire more people in this economy and now with a minimum wage hike.

"There are not a lot of places hiring right now," said Ludd. "If you want to work, you got to be able to travel beyond Bridgeport."

"This legislation guarantees that some businesses will never catch up,"said Andrew Markowski, the organization's state head said. "The cost of doing business here is very high and it will go much higher with no opportunity for small businesses to catch their breath."

But Democrats said that the state's lowest earners spend virtually all their added income within a walk or short drive of their homes, helping invest the money back into the economy.

Rep. Ezequiel Santiago, D-Bridgeport, said that rather than affecting so-called mom-and-pop stores, the higher minimum wage will reflect on the balance sheets of big corporations including fast food restaurants and big-box retailers who are underpaying their employees.

"What we're doing right now is we're allowing them to get away with this and subsidizing that because now we have to cover up the slack with regards to medical costs and other things of that nature, yet these companies are profiting with millions of dollars," said Santiago, a committee member. "There's a scale here and in my opinion it is tipping towards these workers."

Andrew Doba, a spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the governor supports the ideals behind the legislation, but urges the Legislature to be mindful of business's needs in the current ecominic climate.

"That said, he fully supports the president's effort to increase the minimum wage at the national level, and he urges Congress to pass it," Doba said.

According to a 2008 report by nonpartisan legislative staff, state labor officials estimated that 65,000 workers in the state made the then-minimum wage of $7.65. It rose to $8 an hour in January 2009 and $8.25 a year later.

A shadow was cast over the mid-afternoon committee vote, when Sharkey, speaking during an earlier, unrelated news conference, told reporters that he's not comfortable considering raising the minimum wage at this point.

"I've been hesitant about it," Sharkey said. "I'm not sure that we're still quite out of what we've been through in terms of the economic realities out there. I need to get a little bit more information as to what impacts this may have on particularly small businesses around the state, so at this point I'm skeptical about it. I want to see how it evolves and what the public hearing process will produce. I'm open to it, but I need to see a little more information about it."

Sen. Catherine Osten, D-Sprague, co-chairman of the committee, said she's up for a possible compromise as the bill moves forward. "For this bill to pass it has to go through all four caucuses," she said. "I am amenable to talk about it as we go forward."